THE ITALIAN DREAM IS STILL ALIVE

The news of Saturday, March 18th, saw the triumph of Italian Marvin Vettori in the London octagon, defeating Roman Dolidze by unanimous decision and winning UFC 286.

After the tough defeat suffered against Whittaker in Paris, the Italian Dream has returned different, more rational, and more mature, able to manage his energy and tame his opponent’s attacks, striking at the right moment.

The two fighters already knew each other, as they used to train together before Marvin made the decision, a few months ago, to switch teams, moving to Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas and leaving behind his previous gym, the famous KingsMMA, where he had built his previous successes.

The match immediately saw Dolidze start landing some non-trivial punches with great focus. Marvin tries to be more aggressive and not suffer throughout the match while looking for his opponent’s exhaustion, but instead takes more risks by attacking head-on. The start of the match doesn’t seem to favor him, but over time, the great tenacity of the Italian emerges, and some of his moves conclude in the best possible way. In the first round, Dolidze seems to have the upper hand and is more eager (even going as far as throwing an illegal headbutt to his opponent’s chin), but in the second round, Marvin comes out stronger, managing the advantage in the third. The match is very technical and tight, but for his consistency, the judges award the victory to Vettori with a 30-27 score.

The Trentino fighter thus achieved his nineteenth career victory in the UFC, the premier MMA promotion worldwide, positioning himself among the top 5 middleweights in the world. And now the hope for the title becomes even stronger.

by Antonio Spampinato